Major attractions
Dahab, Sinai is one of the popular beach and diving resorts in Egypt
The celebrated tourist attractions of Egypt are the millennia-old monuments for which the Nile Valley is world famous. Principal among them are the Pyramids and Great Sphinx at Giza, the Abu Simbel temples south of Aswan and the Karnak Temple Complex and Valley of the Kings near Luxor. Cairo also boasts the Cairo Museum and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha and the coastal areas of Sinai Peninsula are very popular with visitors as well.[2]
- Giza, about 20 km southwest of Cairo, is the site of some of the most impressive and oldest (26th century BC) ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and a number of other large pyramids and temples.
- Saqqara, some 30 km south of Cairo is a vast, ancient burial ground which served as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis. It features numerous pyramids, including the world's oldest standing step pyramid, as well as a number of mastabas.
- Luxor, about 500 km south of Cairo, is the site of the ancient city of Thebes and has sometimes been called "the world's greatest open air museum". It includes the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor, which stand within the modern city. On the opposite side of the Nile River lie the monuments, temples and tombs on the West Bank Necropolis, which include the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.
- Abu Simbel, about 850 km south of Cairo (near the Sudanese border) is an archaeological site comprising two massive rock temples originally carved out of a mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II (13th century BC). The complex was relocated in its entirety in the 1960s to avoid being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser. They are now situated on an artificial hill made from a domed structure high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir.
- Alexandria is a main summer resort, due to its beaches, ancient history and Museums, especially the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a modern project based on reviving the ancient Library of Alexandria.
- Sinai Peninsula- Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its natural setting, rich coral reefs, and biblical history. Most popular tourist destination in Sinai are Mount Sinai ("Jabal Musa") and St. Catherine's Monastery, which is considered to be the oldest working christian monastery in the world, and the beach resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba.
- El-Sokhna, about 110 km east of cairo has a number of beach resorts as Stella , Hijaz , Porto El-Sokhna
[edit] Pharaohs
5,000 years ago, the pharaonic nation was founded in Egypt, and they were a sophisticated and civilized society. This nation left a very large amount of monuments and temples. Most of the reminders of this well known nation is preserved in Egypt. These monuments draw many tourists, who like to watch and appreciate these reminders, to Egypt.
Some of the well-known artefacts of ancient pharaonic civilization are:
Pyramids: Perhaps the most known pyramids are the three pyramids of Giza, but there are more than 70 pyramids along the Nile. Beside the giant three pyramids is Sphinx, a lion-bodied guard of the pyramids. The pyramids were built more than 4,000 years ago in the eras of Kings Cheops, Kefren and Mykerinos. These three kings' bodies are buried in these enormous pyramids. The biggest pyramid, Cheops', is known as the Great Pyramid because it measues 145 meters tall. Touristic places beside the pyramids are The Solar Barque Museum, The Sphinx Complex and The Sphinx Sound and Light Show.
Saqqara Complex: The vast necropolis of Saqqara including Memphis is located 24 kilometers south of central Cairo. Memphis was founded in about 3000 BC by Menes, along with 11 other pyramids. Memphis was the administrative capital of ancient Egypt. You will find Zoser's funerary complex, Mereruka's tomb, and Serapeum. Serapeum is a large limestone structure and an amazing collection of mummified Apis bulls in gargantuan granite coffins of various kings such as King Teti
Valley of the Kings in Thebes: The Valley of the Kings covers its secrets well. The grand pyramids of the earlier pharaohs were too tempting to attract stealers, so from the eighteenth to twentieth Dynasties, about 26 pharaohs built their tombs in the valley. Carving them into the eterning mountains, far from any messing hand. Famous tombs there belong to Tutankhamun, Ramses the Great and Tuthmosis III. This valley is located in Luxor.
There are other interesting tombs to see in the Valley of the Queens and nobles
[edit] Nile cruises
Nile cruises may vary considerably, but typical Nile cruises are either three, four or seven nights. The shorter tours usually operate between Luxor and Aswan, while the longer cruises travel further north to Dendera, often offering day tours overland to more remote locations.
Nile Cruise Between Aswan And Esna, Egypt
The usual cruise is aboard a Nile cruiser, often referred to as a floating hotel. Indeed, the better boats have most of the accommodations of a land based hotel, including small swimming pools, hot tubs, exercise rooms, nightclubs, good restaurants, stores and even small libraries. Many of the boats have dance areas with disco or even live entertainment, and most offer a variety of nightly shows. These might include cocktail parties, Nubian shows, belly dancers and whirling dervish, plays and even dress up parties where guests don traditional apparel.
A much more adventurous style of Nile cruise, very different from the floating hotels can be arranged aboard feluccas, Egypt's traditional Nile sailboat. Most felucca trips are short trips of several hours, but multi-day felucca cruises can be arranged aboard larger vessels traveling between Aswan and Luxor. The accommodations on a felucca are primitive. Tourist sleep in the open on deck and the sailors double as cooks.
Around the middle of April, locks on the Nile river are closed due to water levels, ultimate time for a Nile cruise is between October and mid April, when the weather is fairly cool, but the locks are all open. However, most cruise boats operate all year. If the locks are closed, cruise operators will arrange boats on either side of the locks, and a transfer must be made between boats.
Pricing, as with land hotels will also have a large range, based on both the boat and the accommodations. |
